


Realisation

by Unicornfoal



Category: TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise
Genre: Episode 10 spoilers, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-11
Updated: 2014-04-11
Packaged: 2018-01-18 23:43:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1447261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unicornfoal/pseuds/Unicornfoal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the middle of their respective battles with Zetto, Nylocke and Alpha separately come to their own conclusions about a certain secret that is being kept from them.</p><p>Possibly canon if you turn your head and squint.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nylocke

Our plan is rather pitiful, now I think about it. Even so, I still trust it to go smoothly. I look over at Gamecrazed standing beside me in the tournament arena, and he turns to return my gaze. "Sir Gamecrazed, do I have thine support?" I ask him.

My partner nods. "I will do whatever is necessary," he replies.

I can't help but give him a grateful smile. "Much appreciated." It's a good thing neither of us desire glory.

The pink-haired commentator begins her presentation of this, the final match, and the battlegrid forms up all around us. I am not listening to her, pulling out my blade and staring firmly across the arena at our opponents. Kizuna has pulled out her pistol, but is holding it low, and Zetto, although he stands tall and firm, seems tense. "Let the final round, Zetto and Kizuna versus Nylocke and Gamecrazed, _begin_!" announces Foreva, and an instant later we have sprung into action.

Gamecrazed launches into the air, a purple flash in the corner of my vision. He is aiming for Zetto, so Kizuna throws herself to the side and shoots in my direction three times. I summon an icy wind with a swoosh of my blade, freezing the bullets and rerouting them into the ground. Kizuna leaps into the air, but as I see Gamecrazed launching out of the arena floor, I turn my attention to her partner, Zetto, who is launching himself in my direction. I wave my blade again to summon a giant stalagmite of ice in his path, but a moment later Zetto has cut through it. Caught offguard at his faster-than-expected reaction, I leap into the air and somersault towards Kizuna, standing alone in the centre of the arena. Zetto once again surprises me, appearing in front of her so quickly it almost seems like he has teleported, and our blades lock fast. For a moment, I stare past the glowing ki-blade into the red eyes of my blue-haired opponent, however it seems I am the first to blink, as he is the one who throws me back. I catch myself before falling over the edge, and look back up in time to see Gamecrazed's enveloping attack be barely avoided by the pair, who are jumping out of the way. Zetto is making his way towards me again, so I prepare myself to counter him and we enter into a lightning-fast duel of blades, parry after block after parry. Finally, I see the Drain Edge on my blade flash, full of absorbed energy, and I grin, activating it to throw Zetto clear across the arena.

Given a moment to breathe, I stand firm, holding my blade fast as I wait for Zetto to get back on his feet and lunge at me once more, but instead he looks over to his right with a shocked expression on his face. I look over curiously and smile widely as I see the first stage of our plan is complete: Gamecrazed has his blade held to Kizuna's neck, while Kizuna herself has her pistol flat against Gamecrazed's cheek. If either one moves, the other has enough time to retaliate, taking them both out at once.

I turn my blade towards the arena floor and slam it down, grinning in Zetto's direction. It's all up to me from here. "Well, now! Are we having fun?"

Zetto turns to me with a glare, his mouth still hanging open from the shock of our partners' stalemate. "Ex _cuse_ me?"

"You know, I've been a resident of TOME for quite a long time," I begin to prattle, "although I've heard tales that you have traversed these virtual plains of grass, earth and steel far longer than even I!" It was a fact I had been told by Gamecrazed, to tell the truth. Zetto was registered as a player since the official release, as was Kizuna; Apparently I had not been paying attention when this had been mentioned by the announcers in the first round. "Such stories you must have of days long past! Oh, how I long to hear them!"

Zetto pulls himself to his feet, morphing his robotic arm into a machine gun. "We, are in the middle, of a match," he growls, pointing his gun at me.

I am not threatened, but I know enough to be cautious and pay him closer attention. I trust myself to be able to protect my character from harm, and I force that trust to make itself extremely visible. "Indeedly so!" I chirp.

"Remove your weapon from the ground," Zetto continues in his overly-serious growl, "before I fill your gaping mouth with lead!"

I resist from openly scoffing. "Oh, but you could do that at any time, whether I keepeth mine blade implanted in this arena's footing or not!" I can't help but give him a sly grin. "Is that not true?"

Zetto now seems angry enough that his growl is replaced by a clearer cry of "You're pissing me off!" If the new tone of voice is familiar to me, the thought is quickly dismissed.

"Oh, please, Master Zetto of ancient origins," I chuckle, leaning my chin and hands on my sword handle, my mind whirring as I quickly rattle off as many titles for the blue-haired cyborg as I can. "Of seasoned combat. Of cobalt spiky hair that looks like it was strucketh by lightning. With little bangs that look like the pincers of the mighty beetle!"

Finally, Zetto loses it, and I am quick to stand up straight, concentrating as I spin my blade around in the best kind of shield I can manage. I almost even shoot off a quick prayer to the Netkings, but that is taking my character too far and I resign myself to simple relief when I emerge from the attack completely unharmed, peeking my face out from behind my blade with a cheeky grin. "Goodness, I deflected them all!" I cry, my confidence building as Zetto lowers his gun-arm with a glare. "I must be nothing but... but...!" The manoeuvre afterwards is one I have done so often, I barely even think about it as I jump into the air. " _NYLOCKE!_ Master of close shaves when projectiles come a-flying but at the last second pulled off a come-from-behind victory!" As I float back towards the ground, I suddenly forget if I have included the words 'Master' or 'Dragon' in my title, so I take a deep breath and quickly add, "Dragon," just before my feet reacquaint themselves with the arena floor.

"Impressive," I hear my partner comment.

As I put my sword away, I hear Kizuna adding to his comment, but I am not paying attention, as I have returned to my mission of annoying Zetto as much as possible. At this point, I have taken to prancing around my side of the arena, tra-la-la-ing loudly and tunelessly. Skipping is hard in the armour I selected for my character, so I am only making simple jumps, but my point of focussing on the fun of the game should be getting through regar-

"You stop this bull**** _RIGHT NOW_!"

I am so shocked by the sudden cry that I pause mid-jump, looking over at Zetto. He is shaking in rage, and it takes me a moment to pull myself out of my shocked state at how suddenly he snapped.

"I've had it up to HERE with your socially awkward antics! In case you weren't aware, we're NOT living in 'Ye Old England', you OVERBEARING TWIT!"

His voice is different now he's angry, I idly notice, and although I am listening to his familiar-sounding rant, a part of my mind is running through every player on TOME I can readily recall the voices of.

"And your ridiculous coping mechanism for interacting with others isn't _cute_ , it's _insanity_! It's _annoying_! _YOU'RE_ ANNOYING!"

I find myself standing straight and closing my eyes as the answer clicks in my mind, although I don't like it. Once again, drama gets in the way of my fun-time with my friends, and there is precious little I can do to make it better.

"Now SHUT UP. Get over here and FIGHT ME, before I make you wish you'd never gone anywhere _NEAR_ THIS GODFORSAKEN GAME!"

Zetto's last cry comes out as a scream, and I sigh as I realise my only option is to continue and pretend I don't know the person underneath the anger. I can barely even summon any of Nylocke's usual grandiose as I mutter "It's funny you mention..."

"Someone needs to make a decision," Kizuna points out. " _Right now_."

I agree with her, but I am beaten to the punch in replying verbally. "FINE," Zetto snaps, and, as a professional roleplayer, I can't help but wonder if he's noticed he's forgotten to put his growling monotone back on. "Then here's one you'll like." He raises his mechanical arm, palm open flat and the blue light there flashing as it charges his distinctive beam attack. Without even thinking, I know exactly how I'm going to dodge it.

"That's probably a bad idea," I advise my angry friend, but, in a situation opposite from last time, he is not listening.

"You think so?" Zetto cries, and it's clear he is just barely restraining a shout. "Well everything you've ever DONE was a bad idea!"

I pull out my blade again and hold it ready, finally regaining the energy and will necessary to pull myself back into character. ' _You tried,_ ' I tell myself. ' _Don't forget you tried._ '

In the instant Zetto releases his beam, I hold my sword up directly in front of me, one eye carefully trained on my character's health. It takes a moment to get the perfect position, badly injuring Nylocke as the sides of the beam hit him, but not enough to knock me out of the tournament before I've decided it's time.

The blue light of Zetto's ki energy dies down, and I suddenly start breathing again, unaware I had stopped until then. My eyes crack open and I see Gamecrazed and Kizuna on the floor nearby. The bits of Zetto's beam that didn't hit me or the Drain Edge must have reflected onto them, and I hope this doesn't cause a problem. It's about time I should be wrapping this up, anyway. Across the arena, I see Zetto, leaning heavily to one side as his mechanical arm sparks. It doesn't take a genius to realise he put far too much energy into his ki beam, far more than he should have. If I wanted to, I could take him out right now with the drained energy from his own attack, and it's only now I realise the Drain Edge seems to be glowing with the stolen power. I close my eyes again, sighing to myself. This is it.

The crowd, who had been loud a moment ago, quiet down as the announcer in the box begins to speak. From the sounds of it, they had a technical malfunction, and as I currently hold all the power in the ring, I am happy to listen to them as Foreva catches up the lost audience on what happened. I begin to walk forward, carefully keeping track of how far I should be from the centre of the arena so I can stop just as I reach it, perfectly timed to coincide with the renewed silence of the commentators.

"So then," Zetto growls, and I almost smile as I note he has remembered to put his monotone back on. "What's it going to be?"

I send out one last wish that this all turns out alright, then point my blade confidently at the sky, releasing all the stored energy in the Drain Edge. I open my eyes just in time to gaze upon the aurora-like lights swimming high above the stadium, then look over at Zetto and notice him looking up at the display in shock. I quickly clear my throat to bring his attention back to me; It's important he listen to this. "Hear me! Thou must learn to lighten up a little! Nay, lighten up a _lot_." As I gaze back at his shocked expression, I hope he can hear the sincerity in my plea, and almost wish he could know what it meant, too. "Lighten up as bright and beautiful as the array of colours I have bestowed upon the audience of this fair tournament! This is a game. Play it well." Zetto's eyes narrow and his mouth begins to close, but I'm not sure what this means. I can only hope he's listening. "Play it not as an outlet for your rage, but treat it as though it were a dear friend that you'd give the utmost respect." I almost add 'hint hint', but restrain myself to the more subtle approach, taking a deep breath and puffing out my chest. "So sayeth I! _NNNNNNYLOCKE!_ " I leap into the air, mentally saying goodbye to the stadium. "Master of giving heartfelt speeches that had damn well better serve their intended purpose, or I swear by my blade I shall explode! _WHOOOOSH!_ " With that, I force my character further and further into the sky, pushing the game engine as far as it will go before finally logging out, officially forfeiting the tournament.

I can only hope things will return to normal when I log back in tomorrow.


	2. Alpha

It's strange, how the tension seems to die as I approach the Balan Stadium's top floors. You'd think it would rise as I got closer, but, as it always seems to with this Zetto guy, instead it does the opposite. I never know what to expect when it comes to him.

The lift comes to a stop and I look out to find myself standing at the top of the risers. Down below is the ring, and I jump down there easily, standing opposite the waiting Zetto. He seems... different than he was during the tournament, but I push the thought away, focusing on my need for answers.

"I'm glad you decided to show," Zetto calls. Even his voice seems a little different now... but I have no time to think about that.

"So what's the deal?" I ask. "I had my suspicions you knew something about the Forbidden Power from the first time I remember seeing you, but I didn't pursue it further until now." I give him a suspicious look as I add, "What's this about 'putting it to rest'?"

Zetto closes his eyes for a moment, then looks up at me with the calmest look I've ever seen him give, full of the seriousness he always seems to exude. "I'm sad to say, while I'm sure over the course of time you've been afflicted by it, you probably think you know its capabilities in and out..." He seems to be genuinely sad, which throws me a bit, but not nearly as much as the next sentence out of his mouth. "But you don't really know anything."

"What?" I reply, so quickly the word is almost lost in a gasp. My mind is whirring at breakneck pace, and I don't think I can stop it now.

"This 'Forbidden Power'," Zetto continues, "is a virus. A digital disease. An error hidden in the depths of TOME's systems that should never have been discovered." My eyes are wide in shock, and I can feel myself going into denial already. It doesn't help that Zetto's everpresent anger seems to be resurfacing. "I don't know how you found it, but somehow it came back into existence by latching on to your character... and your easily manipulated human mind."

Now THAT wasn't fair. "You're not answering my question!" I shout, dismissing his speech to the back of my mind. "I don't care where it came from or why it's here, I just want it _gone_!"

"That's just it," he snaps, and I almost jump back at the venom in his voice. "It _can't_ be erased! It can only be locked away in the ether of TOME's virtual walls, or attached to an unsuspecting psyche like yours." I almost demand to know what makes Zetto think he knows so much about me, stopping only because I have to recognise he is clearly the exact expert on the Forbidden Power I always thought he was. "I know what it must be like. It makes you feel invincible. Your normally weak-willed mannerisms are left at the door, and false confidence takes the helm." At this, I give him an incredulous look. 'Weak-willed'? We've only met once or twice in situations where the Forbidden Power wasn't in control! That is hardly enough to be making that kind of judgement call in my experience! "Its power throws TOME's rules out the window, but at the price of your subconscious becoming a virus's plaything. _You can't handle it_."

I'm about to snap a response about how he could claim to know me so well when a third voice enters our conversation.

**_he is lying to you_ **

"No," I cry, tensing up in unrestrainable fear. "No, not again!"

**_i only wanted to be free_ **

"I'm not hearing this!" I shove my hands over my ears, although I know it's unlikely to help. "No!"

"See what I mean?" I hear Zetto shout, never one to miss an opportunity. "It's talking to you even now, isn't it? It's getting stronger by the day, and more out of control than ever! _It needs to be removed!_ "

I feel like snarkily agreeing with Zetto and saying what a good idea it was to get rid of this curse, but I don't get the chance.

**_kill him_ **

I shake my head firmly. "GET OUT!" I scream, and focus on pushing the mental presence out of my conscious mind and back where it has been sitting since it first took control on the day I met Zetto: an everpresent ache in a corner of my head. It still hurts, but when it's there I can't hear it talking and it's small enough to ignore most of the time.

Zetto seems to be talking, but I've missed his words. He runs his hand over his mechanical arm, which I suddenly notice is blue. Hadn't it been silver before? I wasn't exactly paying attention during the tournament.

**_i want him to suffer all over again_ **

"What is...?" I try to ask, but dismiss my own question and try again with "What are you-?" I'm cut off by a wave of pain racing through my skull. I have to admit, Zetto's right: This thing's getting stronger, and harder and harder to keep contained.

"Do you hear me in there, you monster!?" I hear Zetto shout over my own cries of pain. "I haven't forgotten, and I'll make sure you never hurt ANYONE ELSE!"

I don't have the time or concentration to ponder on Zetto's words, as the pain in my head builds up once again.

**_make him wish he were dead_ **

I can't stand it anymore. I turn my face to the virtual sky and scream, "Get out of my _HEAD_!"

The world wavers.

Where am I? And who am I? I see a blue figure... or is he red? And is that grass or concrete behind him?

A flash of motion, but the motion is my own. Something stops me, and I'm powerless to fight it.

"Good, now, just stay calm."

The voice is familiar. Who does it belong to? It takes me a moment to place it as belonging to the name 'Kirb'. Is he a friend? An enemy? I think I feel concern for him, so he must be a friend.

"It'll be over soon."

What is he talking about? I remember purple cliffs, a green figure hanging limp in the air. How long ago was that? Is he okay? I can't control my own mind. I worry I have hurt him, as I seem to recall doing in the past.

"Half... way... there..."

I remember sitting with four other figures, Kirb among them. Between us is a small black statue, and above us a darkening sky. I seem to remember an air of excitement, of friendship, and then of panic and disappointment as events transpired.

I see a flash of light, hear a roar of sound, and the world wavers again.

My eyes are closed, so I force them open, although it's harder than it should be to keep them that way. Everything seems to come back at once, and I pull myself up into a sitting position as I run over it in my mind. I'm in the Balan Stadium, chasing after information on the Forbidden Power, but it took control of me again. Somehow, Zetto has stopped it. Also, I think Zetto may be Kirb. I look up at said blue-haired cyborg, and see him carefully cradling his mechanical arm, which is cracked and smoking. I take a cursory sweep of my mind and notice the disappearance of the Forbi-, I mean, the virus's everpresent ache. Did Zetto _drain_ it from me?

I don't have time to wonder further. Zetto's arm suddenly explodes, releasing a thick cloud of static and white noise that quickly expands, surrounding Zetto's character. I hear my gasp of shock drowned out by poor Zetto's screams, and at this point, there is only one word repeating and echoing all through my head and escaping out my mouth. "No, no, no, no, no!" I barely even think about it as I leap to my feet and dash in Zetto's direction, throwing my foot up in front of me at the last possible second to kick Zetto in the chin, somehow passing unharmed through the cloud of static, which fades away in the frozen moment as my foot connects with my opponent. I look through the fading grey cloud and am just starting to regain hope when suddenly Zetto's head snaps back down, his eyes glowing red and his hair a much darker shade than it was before. He glares at me, snorting through his admittedly massive nose like a bull. The first words that come to my mind escape out my mouth as my foot reconnects with the ground. "Oh, sh-!"

Zetto roars as he charges straight for me, and I instinctively leap into the air and over him, the strength of his attack causing a massive fireball that flies off into the sky. The last thing I needed today was to get a taste of what the Forbidden Power is like while possessing a guy who could arguably be considered the most powerful fighter in TOME! We continually trade blows, and I'm moving so fast I barely think about exactly what I'm doing, only reacting to what the insanely fast Zetto is throwing at me. I hope we're making enough of a racket to attract Nye and Stephanie, because there is no way I can send off a message with this guy breathing down my neck! Somehow the two of us end up flying through the air, trading punches, and on the last one we land our punch so square on each other's fist that we stop in the air. Before I can make the decision to retreat, suddenly Zetto has activated his ki-blade, striking me in the wrist, and I instinctively shrink away from the pain, giving him the time to form a new left arm out of his ki energy and throw me to the ground.

It's just like that weirdo Ravenfreak once said: Pain. Real pain. This is not something anyone should experience playing a simple video game. I don't have time to think about it though, and pull myself back up onto my knees. As I open my eyes again, I notice that Zetto's throw was enough to cause a crater. Zetto himself is floating back down to the arena, and his snorts and roars have turned into a growl, forming words.

" ** _Kill..._** "

Suddenly it hits me; Everything Zetto was telling me earlier, pairing up with my own experiences as its host, and with this frantic battle to protect another would-be host from its effects. I can't believe I didn't see this before! I glare up at the floating avatar. "I think I finally understand you. Your entire existence is meant for hurting others, and I was just your tool for doing it." I find my confidence building as I speak, along with my righteous anger, but it's not so obvious through my exhausted voice. "That's the only reason you ever bothered with me. I was just too stupid to figure it out..."

Zetto finally lands back on the arena footing. " ** _Kill..._** "

"Well, I don't need you," I continue, refusing to stop talking for anything at this point. "I never needed you! Now GET OUT!"

Zetto responds by throwing out his damaged arm, sending a powerful beam of ki energy raging across the arena. I jump into the air, throwing out several shields in retaliation. This time, I'm determined to strike Zetto with enough force that the virus is forced to retreat, as it once did back on the day of the big fight, when I first met Zetto. The only problem is that the pain and exhaustion are starting to get to me, slowing me down, and every time Zetto gets through my defenses, I'm slowed down just a little bit more. I don't even think as I counter his attacks as best I can, getting in several of my own until finally I land a Vulcan Fist in Zetto's stomach that seems to do the trick. His ki-blade and replacement arm vanish instantly, and he stands stock still opposite me, screaming while the virus cloud flares up again then settling into shaking and shivering while quietly crying in pain.

I fall to my knees. I forgot until now that the virus also did this. I can remember the last time it happened, during the tournament, when the hackers somehow drained part of the Forbidden Power from me temporarily. I was frozen, unable to move, and struggling through the most unbearable pain. How could I forget that? And now it has one of my best friends in the same situation, and there's nothing I can do about it. The only cure is Stephanie's purple flame, and I don't even know if she's on her way or not.

Zetto seems to briefly regain control, his eyes flickering back to their normal colours. "K-kill..." he wheezes, "me...!"

I instantly frown. No. I will not let you die here, Kirb. I pull myself back to my feet and stand firm before the struggling host of the Forbidden Power, only for my determination to waver. I still have no plan. What am I supposed to do? That phrase about will and ways is totally wrong in this situation! Although, the Forbidden Power seems to be regaining control, as Zetto's breathing has calmed and is returning to the ominous snorting. I prepare to fight him off again while I think of a new plan.

"Alpha!"

I hear a muffled shout to my left, and turn. Through the battlegrid, standing in the risers of the stadium, I can see Flamegirl.

"Throw the match!"

It takes me a second, but I do know why Stephanie is ordering me to let Zetto win. The Forbidden Power threw up this grid, and it's likely corrupted like the one Rockoon hijacked was. I had to use the Forbidden Power itself to get through that one. Regardless, if I have to let Zetto win, this is going to hurt. It's a good thing I'll do anything for the safety of my friends.

Zetto growls at me, and I reply by charging at him with a determined shout. Zetto reforms his ki-arm and punches me in the face, throwing my avatar to the ground and knocking the wind out of me. All I can focus on is continuing to breathe, barely registering the blue light through my eyelids, the feeling of something warm but not quite solid picking me up by the neck, Zetto's possessed snorts so very close to my face. As I fall into unconsciousness, all I can think is 'Kirb, be safe...'

Finally, my world turns black.


End file.
